Speak Out: Some candidates must be violent people

Vexed about violence: The right-wingers must be very violent people, especially when you can get a candidate who goes up in the polls when he says, "I tried to hit my mom in the head with a hammer" and "I tried to stab my friend." Not only does he try to justify this, but he wants to verify it. Why would you want to verify that you are a violent person? Maybe he operated on his own brain.

In the wake of Fox Lake fiasco: This thing up in Fox Lake with the cop being G.I. Joe. You're going to be writing a book on this one. You couldn't make it up. It's unbelievable. I've never seen anything so bizarre in all my life, and I'm not that young anymore. That mayor seems not to know what was going on, but he does. I think he's part of it. I live in Elgin, and the mayor here knows what's going on. Elgin is a lot bigger town than Fox Lake. If our mayor knows what's going on here, so should that one. All the stuff is now coming out of the woodwork. I don't think it's over yet.

South Side situation: A year and a half ago, I called Speak Out and said Chicago should get the National Guard to the South Side to help get rid of the horrendous gang problem. Now they are talking about doing just that. How many lives have been lost in that amount of time? The mayor and his buddy, the police chief, should have been kicked out a long time ago. All they talk about is how the death toll this year is not as bad as last year. The police try, but it is no longer possible for them to fight this war without extra help. Chi-Raq is a perfect name for that war zone.

America should have stood its ground: I would like to comment and say that hindsight is always 20/20 to the caller complaining about the United States invading Iraq. There have been a lot of debates over it. Sometimes when you get lemons, you make lemonade. President Obama had the power to leave thousands of our military in Iraq after "the surge" that was a success. We won. The thousands upon thousands of poor refugees leaving their homes and fleeing from ISIS is the fault of Obama. If we had stood our ground and stayed in Iraq, many Christians and others would still be alive. Take off your rose-colored glasses when you talk about the president. His legacy and ending the war were more important to him than the people over there.

Belief in the Bible: I'm so sorry you are bothered about the Bible and don't believe it is God's word. Yes, man wrote the Bible, but God used man as a go-between to relate his word. How do you explain the Bible's predictions coming true if they were predictions made by mere humans so many years ago? I personally believe what I read in the Bible and try to live it every day.

Irked by illegal immigrants: I'm so sick of these bleeding hearts talking about these poor illegal immigrants who were deported. They knew they were breaking the law when they came over here. If their families are broken up, it's their fault, not ours. If they came here and had a baby, it doesn't mean the whole family can stay here. Send the baby back with the mother. This is a bunch of garbage. I'm also sick and tired of companies catering to these people. They are making it a two-language country. If you can't speak Spanish, you're not going to get a job. Wake up.

Guns purchased in Indiana: I saw that Donald Trump was commenting on the gun violence in Chicago. He was trying to scrutinize the gun laws. He said Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in America, and yet we have all this violence. I would tell Trump to do his homework. Most of the guns that we get in Chicago come from Indiana. They have some of the most relaxed gun laws. You can take a fake ID over there and obtain a gun legally in Indiana. Felons do it all the time. It's very easy. That's where a lot of our guns in Chicago come from.

Questionable questions: The first GOP debate was a horrible waste of time. For whatever reason, the GOP picked liberals to be in charge of the questions. Their dislike for the candidates was very evident to everyone. The candidates were not crybabies. They only had a short time to tell Americans about their plans for a better future, but instead they were asked belittling questions that pitted them against each other. The second debate was better without the haters.

Seeking pets of the week: Where are the pets of the week? Don't tell me you dropped that. It's the one really good thing that the newspaper does. You're kidding, right?

Downhearted about deer hunting: As to the deer hunting article in the newspaper, what kind of person would kill a beautiful animal that would never hurt anyone? It's the kind of person I would never have anything to do with. It is a cruel sport.

Prejudice is nation's biggest problem: I would like to comment on what some of the Republican presidential candidates are saying about not letting the refugees in here from Syria unless they are Christians. Let me tell you something. Do you think just because people say they are Christians they can't be terrorists? Get real, folks. Don't let these people make you afraid to be in your own country. You have homegrown white people and homegrown black people here right now ready to do terrorist acts. Don't think the color of the skin or declared religion will stop anything. This just goes to show you how prejudiced this country still is. This is what is wrong with America today.

Say no to bow hunting: I agree with the person who wants to stop bow hunting. It should not be allowed. They shoot the poor deer and then let them sit there and die. That's horrible. That shouldn't be allowed anywhere. It's murder. Deer didn't do anything to them. If you want to kill something, kill ISIS. Get rid of them.

Stop scare tactics: I was watching a news report. The airplane was still at the terminal. A lady saw a Middle Eastern person watching a video on a phone. She jumped up, ran to the back of the plane, and yelled like there was going to be a terrorist attack. We need for politicians to cut out all this rhetoric. We're just making people prejudiced and afraid of anyone who doesn't look like them. Tell these politicians to stop this scaring people in order to get into the White House.

Lament about increased liquor sales: Reading in The Courier-News that Elgin is one of the three heaviest drinking towns is not surprising. It's a labor town high in minority population. It doesn't take a Philadelphia lawyer to figure that out. All the grocery stores have extended their liquor aisles. Gas stations sell liquor, and drug stores carry liquor. I remember when Elgin was written up for all its beautiful churches, trees and two parks. Society changes things over the years but not always for the best.

Stop free handouts: I get a kick out of these people who call in and blast Governor Rauner. He's only trying to fix the problem. He's not kissing their butt. I guess these people who want these free handouts are upset. Too bad. You know what? We're done giving stuff away. What the heck is going on in this country?

Find bigger fish to fry: Our Elgin city council is considering a no smoking ban in our parks. How far out and crazy can we be? I'm not a smoker, but doesn't our city council have something better to do than fool around with something like this?

Editor's note

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